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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26690359">Maybe I'll Burn a Little Brighter Tonight</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/PadawanRyan/pseuds/PadawanRyan'>PadawanRyan</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fall Out Boy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Emotional Baggage, Feelings, Getting Together, Hiatus (Fall Out Boy), Love Confessions, M/M, Post-Hiatus (Fall Out Boy), Song Fic Kinda, Songwriting, inspired by a tiktok</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 04:21:15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,060</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26690359</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/PadawanRyan/pseuds/PadawanRyan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p><i>It almost felt like there was a void in his life, so of course he wrote the song about Pete. </i>Of course he did<i>. And that’s in part why it didn’t feel like it fit on </i>Soul Punk<i> — those songs were stories, but they weren’t </i>Patrick’s stories<i>. This one was.</i></p>
<p>
  <i>But it wasn’t just the story of how Patrick missed Pete. And that was the third reason.<i></i></i>
</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Past Patrick Stump/Mikey Way, Past Pete Wentz/Mikey Way, Patrick Stump/Pete Wentz</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>48</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Maybe I'll Burn a Little Brighter Tonight</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I was scrolling through TikTok this morning when I came across <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@ybcpatrick/video/6875908519653133570">this TikTok</a> of <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/ybcpatrick/">ybcpatrick</a> telling people not to say Miss Missing You was about Mikey Way, because Patrick wrote it for Soul Punk and it was <i>Pete</i> who was gay for Mikey Way. So, suddenly, I had this thought: what if the song <i>was</i> about Mikey Way, but in sort of a roundabout and unexpected way? Pun not intended. This whole idea instanly formed in my head, and despite having only an hour before leaving, I immediately began writing it.</p>
<p>I ended up forgetting about it pretty much all day - I was at a pumpkin patch and a haunted house, I was thoroughly distracted - but the moment I returned home and turned on my computer, I went back to the Word document and continued writing. It wasn't intended to be very long and most of it was finished in that hour this morning, but since the end is where the actual Peterick stuff happens, it did take a little longer to write than expected. And here we are!</p>
<p>I should also note that I have already written an <i>absolute</i> masterpiece for Trick or Pete and I can't wait to unveil that. But, in the meantime, here comes another random oneshot that practically wrote itself.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Patrick was <em>not</em> that good an actor, so he must have <em>emanated</em> “deer in the headlights” when Pete asked, “what’s this one about?”</p>
<p>The squeak in his voice when he yelled, “nothing!” also must have given him away.</p>
<p>The thing was, he knew Pete wasn’t asking a deep, personal question. Patrick had a story for each one of his songs on <em>Soul Punk</em> and sure, they were not all <em>personal</em> stories – songs didn’t have to be about something that someone felt or experienced personally, just look at Iron Maiden’s literary and historical themed masterpieces – but <em>this</em> one…</p>
<p>There was a story there.</p>
<p>And Patrick was not quite ready to tell Pete about it. For many reasons.</p>
<p>The first being the obvious: that Patrick was interested in guys. He knew that Pete wouldn’t judge him for it – he had walked in on Pete with a dick down his throat more times than he could count, despite the older man’s assertion that he was only “gay above the waist” (but Patrick supposed that if the waist of one’s pants was down at the ankles, then Pete technically wasn’t <em>wrong</em>) – but he knew that once he opened up that can of worms, he could never go back. And once Pete knew that he was interested in guys, Pete might clue in that Patrick was interested in <em>him</em>, which was the second reason that he wasn’t ready to say anything yet.</p>
<p>Because Patrick had known for <em>years</em> that Pete was <em>it</em> for him. He had known since everything had gone south with Anna and she claimed that she cheated on him <em>because</em> she already thought he was cheating on her with Pete. It had opened Patrick’s eyes to exactly why someone might even think that he was involved with Pete, and well, it must have looked obvious to everyone else — except Pete, who continued to be Pete.</p>
<p>And that was perfectly fine with Patrick, because he didn’t need Pete to know. Pete being oblivious was the <em>best</em> thing that could have happened.</p>
<p>Because it meant that Pete couldn’t <em>turn him down</em>.</p>
<p>But that didn’t mean that Patrick didn’t <em>miss</em> Pete. Of course he missed Pete, the man was also his best friend and just because they still talked while the band was on hiatus didn’t mean that Patrick couldn’t <em>miss</em> him. He was used to spending so much time with Pete, even if they were arguing and throwing things, that suddenly being without him was…different. It almost felt like there was a void in his life, so of course he wrote the song about Pete. <em>Of course he did</em>. And that’s in part why it didn’t feel like it fit on <em>Soul Punk </em>— those songs were stories, but they weren’t <em>Patrick’s</em> stories. This one was.</p>
<p>But it wasn’t just the story of how Patrick missed Pete. And that was the third reason.</p>
<p>He had been lonely and he hadn’t really had the chance to branch out and actually <em>do things</em> with guys since his realization that he was into Pete, who was the first guy who had caught his attention in that way. Well, no – if Patrick was being honest, there had been this one guy in his English class in high school, but at the time Patrick was just pretty sure he was experiencing indigestion whenever the guy was around (English was right after lunch, after all) – but Pete was the first one where he recognized that this was an actual <em>thing</em>.</p>
<p>So, when he ran into the bassist shortly after the band called the hiatus and agreed to get drinks with him, Patrick couldn’t resist checking him out a little bit. But he knew that he was well and truly fucked when <em>Mikey fuckin’ Way</em> was checking him out in return.</p>
<p>Patrick didn’t think that Pete would begrudge him experimenting with his sexuality. Pete was an expert in that category — he was never <em>not</em> experimenting with his sexuality.</p>
<p>But Pete <em>might</em> think it a betrayal of sorts that Patrick experimented with <em>Mikey</em>.</p>
<p>Because Patrick felt like it was a betrayal. Although the situation seemed fun at the time – and fun it was, because Mikey was very enthusiastic and thoughtful and Patrick had never so <em>taken care of</em> in any of his sexual encounters with women (where he was generally thought to be the <em>carer</em>, damn heteronormative gender expectations) – it left a sour taste in his mouth when he looked back on it several days later. It wasn’t an immediate morning-after feeling of regret, which is exactly how Mikey ended up teaching Patrick a few more things before they parted ways. But as soon as Patrick was sitting down and thinking about how to apply the things he learned, that’s when it hit him: that was <em>Mikey fuckin’ Way</em>.</p>
<p>And not <em>Mikey fuckin’ Way</em>, the bassist of My Chemical Romance. Patrick still got starstruck sometimes when meeting musicians, but he’d known Mikey for years by that point.</p>
<p>No, this was <em>Mikey fuckin’ Way</em>, Pete’s ex.</p>
<p>And although Pete and Mikey were still friends and <em>sweet little dudes</em> and all, he knew that it was still a sore spot with Pete because Pete had been <em>so enamoured </em>with Mikey during that summer. They had together written a gazillion songs about Mikey – because Patrick <em>knew</em> that those lyrics were about Mikey, he would have known even if Pete hadn’t said anything to him – and he was pretty sure they’d still continue writing songs about Mikey, even though Pete was adamant that he was over him.</p>
<p>It was an important part of Pete’s life and it would continue to inspire him.</p>
<p>But now…</p>
<p>There was another song about Mikey and the lyrics <em>weren’t</em> written by Pete. Not yet, anyway — Patrick was never the lyrics man and, in bringing this song this song to Pete as a potential Fall Out Boy song, he knew that Pete would pick apart the words.</p>
<p>That’s probably exactly what he was already doing by asking Patrick what it was about, but Patrick still didn’t know how to answer that question.</p>
<p>It’s not that the song gave away anything about what Patrick and Mikey <em>did</em>. It’s just that this song came into his head during that moment, several days after their liaison, the song that slammed it into him how much Pete was leaving a void in his life without even realizing it, the song that made him realize that he was <em>in love with Pete</em>. This wasn’t just an <em>interest</em> anymore – it wasn’t just a crush – but the real fucking thing, and the thought terrified him. Because what the <em>fuck</em> was Patrick supposed to do about that, especially when he and Pete were moving in different directions with their careers?</p>
<p>Was he just supposed to roll over and let it happen and let his heart break?</p>
<p>Well, he would just have to, because he couldn’t derail Pete’s career just to confess how much he missed the man. That would be selfish and Patrick couldn’t do that to Pete. So, instead, he wrote a song that he could maybe include on his album.</p>
<p>And then suddenly Pete was <em>there</em> and they were <em>writing</em>. Fall Out Boy was no longer a thing of the past.</p>
<p>They were actually going to <em>make music again</em>.</p>
<p>It was everything Patrick could have dreamed and more. He could barely contain his <em>relief</em>.</p>
<p>Especially since it was clear that his fanbase was <em>not</em> happy with his album. Sure, there were some who seemed fairly supportive, but many were just unhappy that he wasn’t making the same music that he had in the band. And that hurt, because he didn’t want to have to be the Fall Out Boy guy for the rest of his life — or, rather, he didn’t want to be the Fall Out Boy guy <em>without Pete</em>. He could handle being the Fall Out Boy guy if Pete was by his side, being the frontman and still taking the attention off of Patrick. And, most importantly, giving attention <em>to</em> Patrick, even if not in the way he truly wanted.</p>
<p>The song hadn’t fit right on <em>Soul Punk</em>, so maybe it was meant to be a Fall Out Boy song. It was like they were <em>supposed</em> to do this. It was fate.</p>
<p>So, why did it feel so <em>terrifying</em> when Pete had asked him, “what’s this one about?”</p>
<p>Pete, as predicted, could see right through his, “nothing!”</p>
<p>“Okaaaayyyy,” Pete said, deliberately slow and looking back down to the page as though to give Patrick a moment before he began the assault. Maybe “assault” was too harsh a word, but he knew that Pete would dive right in and wouldn’t leave him be until he got to the bottom of it. Neither he nor Pete had ever been good at leaving the other alone, hence all of their arguments before the band finally agreed to take an indeterminate hiatus. As a result, Patrick was a little thrown when Pete seemed to just…ignore it and ask, “okay, is there a specific direction you’d like me to take when I tweak the lyrics?”</p>
<p>And not only was he <em>thrown</em>. Despite his fear, was Patrick…disappointed?</p>
<p>Because deep down – way, <em>way</em> deep down where Patrick wasn’t quite ready to go but knew that he inevitably <em>had to</em> – he wanted to come clean. He wanted to tell Pete <em>everything</em>, the story behind the story and his hesitance to tell it. Patrick was not going to be ready to spill everything at that moment, but he wanted to tell Pete <em>eventually</em>. The time spent apart, feeling that void and missing Pete, was enough to make Patrick see that maybe…maybe he should communicate with Pete. That was their problem before, wasn’t it? Communication.</p>
<p>And they couldn’t move forward unless he communicated with Pete because bottling everything up might just break everything down again.</p>
<p>“It’s about you,” he blurted out.</p>
<p>Pete stilled before looking up from the page. Patrick could see it all in Pete’s face, always so expressive in the same way that Pete’s words were: the nervousness, the fear, the anticipation, the…desire? Yes, he was certain that it was desire. Pete…desired him.</p>
<p>Patrick’s heard swelled as he took a breath and admitted, “it’s about you. It’s about everything I felt about not having you around during the break. I mean, of course you were in my life and I’m so glad that I got to spend time with you and Bronx and see the amazing man you’re becoming – the amazing man you’ve always been – but making music and being out the road <em>without </em>you? I can’t…” he looked down for a moment and gulped, tears threatening to fall. “I don’t think I can do that again. Because it – <em>this</em> – means everything to me.”</p>
<p>Raising his head again to gaze right into Pete’s <em>beautiful</em>, expressive eyes, he was resolute. “<em>You</em> mean everything to me. And I’m not…I’m in…”</p>
<p>“I love you too,” Pete said, grabbing onto Patrick’s shirt and reeling him in.</p>
<p>And <em>god</em>, was that all it took?</p>
<p>Patrick had never felt <em>anything</em> like that kiss in his <em>entire life</em>. If he and Pete had done this before the hiatus, he was certain that he would never have been able to manage the hiatus. How would he have been able to write music when that void was <em>strangling him?</em> Patrick would have suffocated, in the same way that he <em>thought</em> he was suffocating from too much time with Pete. He wasn’t suffocating from too much Pete, he was suffocating from his own feelings and projecting that onto Pete.</p>
<p>Well, there was a need for a break, he wouldn’t deny that.</p>
<p>But there was so much <em>more</em> to what had happened than he even realized until Pete’s lips connected with his and it felt like <em>coming home</em> again.</p>
<p>It wasn’t a particularly long kiss and Patrick didn’t even get the opportunity to meet Pete’s tongue in that same, intimate manner – god knows he’d known Pete’s tongue in some really weird ways over the years because they were such <em>weird</em> friends – but that was fine. As Pete slowly leaned back, eyes hopeful as he still looked at the younger man across from him, Patrick couldn’t help but feel a warmth in his chest.</p>
<p>He would tell Pete about Mikey. Eventually. But for now, telling Pete about <em>Pete</em> was enough.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Follow me on social media! I'm <b>padawanryan</b> on <a href="https://padawanryan.tumblr.com/">Tumblr</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/PadawanRyan">Twitter</a>, and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/padawanryan/">Instagram</a>. ✌️</p></blockquote></div></div>
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